Duo Bijl - Moelker

Confluence: a place where two rivers or streams join to become one

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The year is 1998. Classically trained saxophonist Niels Bijl, is at the end of his Conservatorium education. In a record shop in the centre of Enschede: in a spare hour he is trawling the cd racks, looking for unknown music, new inspiration. Ronald Moelker walks past him, purposefully, towards the counter. With a clear question: do you also have recordings of classical music on saxophone?

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A conversation quickly follows, a friendship is born. Ronald has just moved to Twente, after an intensive period full of Baroque and renaissance music in the North of the country. Ronald, searching for peace and inspiration. Niels, finishing his study, searching for adventure and musical identity. Contact information is exchanged. Ronald gives Niels his recording of the Fantasies of Telemann. The foundations have been laid.

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What follows: more than 20 years of research, collaboration and a shared passion for enjoying life. Niels and Ronald, mange to remain unfettered by the apparently different worlds of their chosen instruments, take on all challenges together. The 15th Century British complexity of Baldwyn’s A Duo, the light-footedness of Francois Couperin’s Tic-toc Choc. Bach as uniting thread, with highlights such as the two-part canon from the Kunst der Fugue and the flute sonata BWV 1035. Aided by the expert mastery of recorder builder Adriana Breukink, the saxophone and recorder come ever closer to each other. The romance of young love is reflected in Tandernaken. The festive cadans of the early middle ages are celebrated in the Estampie Petrone. In Koechlin’s duo, referred to as No3, harsh dissonant sounds are continuously replaced with beautiful harmonies, ending in a perfect unison. Ronald Moelker’s composition Ithaca, written for Niels, is the perfect introduction to the heart of the collaboration and friendship: Two fantasies by Telemann.